I’d literally prefer yedlin over Moore. That one’s disappointing. To think right back felt like a strength the beginning of last cycle. Guys like cannon completely dropped off though. I would have preferred Fossey but that’s never going to happen bringing a new guy in for a big tournament. Fossey still does warrant a look imo at some point next sequence of post tournament friendlies
Good point, but he could look sneaky good in practice, his in game brain farts tend to be his negative, his passing a strength. I bet the guy looks great in practices.
Yep, and it wouldn't negate his attacking abilities entirely to move him back there, it might allow you to be a more attacking side with both say Wright/Sargent and Weah there.
Moore is simple. He's not going to get physically outmatched and he's willing to butch up a game with fouling. Tim Tillman is a versatile MF. He played decently in the BL for a year, and I take ot he's had an outstanding year in MLS. Sean Johnson ... no one has stepped up and demanded that spot. It is his by default right now.
When in the shirt, Vasquez looks a lot better, plus Zendejas has much tougher comp for WF, Striker's gotten deeper, no doubt, but it's still basically top 5 for the position. Zendejas might be WF 6 or something, but Berhalter can also move a Haji and Sargent there, and almost all of our attacking CM's can play wing forward in a pinch. It was always a bit odd of a choice to play with us as our depth chart at WF is probably the deepest of any position (along with CB, if you don't mind that nearly all the CB's are in that "meh to meh+" territory of preferably 3rd or 4th option types). He still has a gold cup future, but WF would need a lot of injuries to hit, for me to see him as roster fodder for an A sided tournament.
Paredes is the best example of "hard decision". If I were picking the roster for Copa I'd say to myself: "Ok, I have a game with Brazil or Colombia (most likely) in the first KO game. What team will I field for that one?' 1) I have to stop vinny and rodry Solution: Weah rb and Paredes lb . (ARob since Paredes going to Oly). 2) We need to hurry play in the attacking end to cut off as many chances as poss for vinny and rodri. We start Brenden and use our best pressing 9 + Pulisic on the right where he played great defense for Milan. 3) Tyler will be well rested for this one to avoid Nederland prob. His partner will be Johnny because he is most likely to get the ball out of Dodge and his stats in tackles, interceptions, blocks and clearances makes him ideal for protecting top of the box with Adams. 4) our weakness against Nederland was the area around the pk spot. Solution: I'll put CCV on it. -----------------brenden----9 -----------------------pulisic ---------------johnny------adams ----Arob----ream----ccv----chris (miles?)---weah Brenden will be out of gas at 60+ mark. ARob will be tiring which is why I would have brought Paredes to this camp. Most surprising non call up was Maloney which I think is due to shoulder problem? Owise, I think what makes me the most hopeful is that we have some #1 defenders who can score the ball - ARob, Weah, Johnny. Who would be most likely to help on Vinny - Miles or Chris? Is Miles more dangerous in the att box on set plays? Dunno. After constructing a starting team for ko game #1, the next job would be to pick a roster for group games that has our ko roster rested but tuned up and playing together well.
I think we can start out playing Scally to give Weah's hammy a rest then start adding Weah for subvminutes v. Panama, start Weah v. Uruguay with Scally relieving him. Something like that will have Weah ready to go at rb in the first KO game while having Scally well tuned up in case Weah can't go.
I'm totally fine with Johnson as GK3. Of course another option would've been bring whichever of Schulte/Chris Brady you aren't taking as your backup for the Olympics as GK3 for Copa America.
I was pretty close. When I heard 27, I tried to predict - but had Celentano instead of Johnson and Zendejas instead of Moore. Keepers: Still haven't seen anyone really look better than Turner. Several good American keepers in MLS, but none really seem better - would have gone with Celentano over Johnson, but fair enough. Defense: Hard to argue with the CBs - Ream healthy but maybe rusty, but the rest make sense. Not clear any MLS CBs have really stepped up to this level. Thought Lennon had an outside shot at RB instead of Moore, or that we could use the fact that Weah has played RWB all year / Richards is very versatile / as is McKennie as a way to feel deep enough behind Scally. But hampered a bit here by the fact that Jedi and Lund are very left back-y. Brooks remains in the wilderness, but not clear he's outplayed anyone on the squad lately. Reynolds going to the Olympics may also make more sense than backing up here. Midfield: Like to see Tim Tillman - one of the best Americans in MLS this year, and a solid depth option it will be useful to integrate. Aidan Morris, Busio, and Tessmann were other considerations, I think, but all are Olympics-eligible. Maloney seems mostly back to health, but is clearly right along that borderline and maybe fairly considered on the wrong side. Attack: I would have thought eight instead of seven and brought Zendejas, but Malik being listed as a mid despite playing a lot of wing for PSV makes this deeper than that. Paxten, Paredes, Cowell, Yow, and Taylor Booth on the wings - could have seen one sneak on, but they could figure into the Olympics setup and that may be preferable. Vazquez and MLS strikers like White and McGuire are probably fairly a step behind the four similar players who made this roster.
He was there to get him out of traffic and in the clear while emphasizing his crossing in the attacking end. Allegri has said as much. It all makes sense - for Juve. For USA? Don't get me started.........
CB's - after seeing Glad up close when LA played Salt Lake recently, I'm even more surprised that Berhalter hasn't given him a go. I'm not a cb expert. Midfield - The Tilmans melt into a puddle at the higher level. I'm glad Berhalter kept them off the Olympic team, anyway. If Malik can sneak in a goal late in a game as part of the ktichen sink attack I'll be overjoyed. He may just have that 5 minutes of opportunism in him.
I have heard that Sargent is not 100% and was named to this roster in the hopes that he recovers in time/to make him feel included.
I did not watch Maloney this year, so I'm asking for genuine responses to his exclusion. All I know about him is that he was a consistent starter for a team that finished midtable in the Bundesliga. Who would he replace if he were included, and is he appreciably better than any others who were included in the squad at the same position? What would he offer that others don't?
Of all the dual national recruiting wins Dest is probably the biggest as we’ve got some better depth at some of the other positions where we’ve successfully recruited guys (Balogun, Pepi, Musah Tillman, etc). And I’m not really counting Jedi and Cardoso as dual national recruiting battles before we didn’t really have any competition for either.
He's big and very dogged as a d-mid and covers a lot of ground, surprisingly fast and high hustle rate. He is less skilled than every midfielder on this roster, and also no better than equal in terms of athleticism. If one of Adams/Cardoso/McKennie/Tim Tillman can't go, he'd be the logical replacement among YAs. He had a bad shoulder injury and has only played I think two matches since coming back from that, which I only watched a few minutes of but he seemed normal. Is he appreciably better than the similar players in the squad? No. But if we're talking 8 midfielders here, is he top 12 in our overall depth chart for most observers? Probably. Could be an interesting over-age inclusion in the Olympic roster.
This makes sense given the roster deadline is June 12 and the first game isn’t till June 23. You can afford to bring him in and see where he is physically and whether he’ll be able to go.
Juve almost always play 3 CBs. They tend to defend in a 532, sometimes a 541. On the right side they often have Wes, the RCM (sometimes the RM), swap roles with the RWB. So when they push numbers the RWB comes inside into the half space and Wes swings wide into the RWB space. Then in the second half, usually after an attacking sub, they will move Wes to the RWB role on D. If I had to guess I would say at least 30% of Wes’s minutes have come in the RWB role. Weah has almost solely started in the RWB role but has sometimes moved to RM or the left and floats when he moves into the half space role in attack. Tim is not dynamic enough on the ball but he is a “floor spacer” and moves off the ball pretty well. His goal record in attacking positions in Ligue 1 was solid but certainly not strong enough for what Juve wants from that spot.
This makes no sense given 1) he plays in Belgium not MLS, 2) there’s no guarantee he makes the final roster, and 3) he hasn’t really been part of the A team unless the guys ahead of him are unavailable and he’s one of the more fringe players on this roster.
I do not think that Maloney performed appreciably better than say an Alfredo Morales or Tim Tillman did in the Bundesliga (better than Green) or Busio in Serie A. His team had the 3rd worst xGD in the league after the historically outclassed Darmstadt. They were only 3 better than Koln and 3 worse than Bochum. They did 17 goals better than expected! Without reinforcements they will be smack in the middle of a relegation battle next season and with their work rate heavy strategy European play would be a poison chalice (forcing them to expend energy they need to fight for places in the league). Still he’s probably the 3rd string non-U23 “natural” DM. He’s not pacy or quick or agile but very hard working. His passing is very “functional”. He’s strong and good in the air.
If you are gonna do that, I think Weah is a better bet. You can put Gio or Tillman or Wright or Aaronson or Sargent wide right if you don't want to go with Scally or any of tge otger RB choices (Moore, Jones, Yedlin, Cannon, etc).
do you have any reports about this also being true for Adams? He should be "on the mend" but not dressing for the last match vs Chelsea makes me a lil concerned.
Hard working... good in the air.... and tough. All nice traits but he is pretty far down my USMNT depth chart at DM and I would never play him as an 8... so I am happy he was left off. The 3rd GK situation doesn't mean much to me... he won't see the field. It almost seems like a farewell thank you inclusion for Sean. The only major problem I can see on this roster is how thin we are at RB since Dest got injured.... although Scally did end up finishing the BL season strong with two assists in his last 4 appearances. His ability to play on both sides makes him valuable. But beyond that it is kind of depressing that the best we can call in at FB is Lund and Moore. Both have played pretty well for the USMNT in the past so I can only hope they come in hungry and chomping at the bit to prove themselves on the big stage. I really wish we had run out some 3-man CB formations in recent years because I think it could play to our strengths.